


Bulwarks

by Legacy_Fireteam



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Destiny, Game: Destiny: The Taken King DLC, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28886199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legacy_Fireteam/pseuds/Legacy_Fireteam
Summary: The Cabal have landed on the Dreadnaught too, and the Skyburners are fighting to the last for what scraps of ground they have been able to hold. Guardians have tried and failed to break through their defenses, but all have failed. Kirin's time has run out, and on the last leg of his race, he needs a miracle.One will come, in blood and steel.
Relationships: Exo Guardian & Exo Guardian, Guardian & Guardian, Male Guardian & Female Guardian, Original Exo Guardian & Original Exo Guardian, Original Guardian & Original Guardian, Original Male Guardian & Original Female Guardian





	Bulwarks

###  _Written by Grayson_

\--------------------------------------------ℬυᖇ𝓝🔥--------------------------------------------

They were already calling it the Taken War.

Word of Eris Morn’s foreboding assessment regarding the incursion in Saturn’s rings had spread like wildfire through the Tower, and the City beyond had trembled. Zavala shut it down as quickly as he could, travel to the strange battleship banned within minutes so the Commander could evaluate his situation.

Ever the unorthodox performer, Cayde-6 felt that haste was of the essence. He enlisted Marcus-0, a veteran of dozens of strike ops, and Violet Grey, the Vanguard’s foremost Hive researcher behind Morn herself, to “acquire” a stealth drive stashed deep in the Cosmodrome. Said stealth drive, and a stolen ship, helped Violet make it onto Oryx’s terrible Dreadnaught by the skin of her teeth. Zavala, through his frustration, had to admit it was a victory for the Vanguard to establish the transmat zone, so all parties involved got off scot-free, and the bulwark was set. Guardian boots on the ground, in the halls of the dark god.

However, the Taken and Hive weren’t the only threats onboard, and the Guardians weren’t the only ones struggling to hold a beachhead. The last forces of the Skyburners, Cabal warriors trapped in a war for survival against Oryx, had been ordered by the Emperor himself to take the ship and kill the Taken King by any means necessary. The Cabal war machine, while weaker than ever here, was still a formidable force, and had nearly pushed their way into the Rupture. They were an obstacle that Zavala could not abide, and their plans aboard the ship needed to be cut off before the situation spiraled out of hand. Lucky for him, the forces aboard included the Vanguard’s finest warrior, and she fought alongside a demon. 

The Cabal should have been more afraid.

\--------------------------------------------ℬυᖇ𝓝🔥--------------------------------------------

Kirin swore as the bullet caught him mid-stride, his shin suddenly overcome with throbbing, fiery pain. In his last few steps, he managed to stumble forwards behind a bit of sparse cover, crashing to the ground with vicious thud. At least the rock was  _ there. _ That’s luck on his side for the first time that day.

The Hunter winced, clutching his leg as blood began winding a river down his armor.

“Son of a bitch...Flash! Hey, get down, moron!”

A newly bloodied hand flew up to snag his Ghost out of the line of fire, the shell squirming in protest as his little friend shouted back at him.

“Lemme go!! I almost had the scan done!”

“Great, fantastic, in case you haven’t noticed we’re being  _ shot at, Flash! _ It can wait!!”

Rubble and dirt sprang up from the ground near Kirin’s foot as the Centurion’s rounds cracked closer. Kirin had been sent up here by Zavala after Violet Grey managed the transmat zone to do what he did best; map the place out, work with her and any other Vanguard reps on the ship before reporting back to the Tower with as much intel as he could. God forbid it was ever an easy job.

A loud humming interrupted their argument, and as the shooting stopped, Kirin cautiously peeked out from behind his cover. The Cabal had fallen back a tad, and unfortunately, it wasn’t in retreat. Instead, that steady rumble of hover treads replaced the hail of gunfire completely as a massive cannon rose to meet his gaze.

Of course they had a tank in their ship.

_ Cabal. _

“Flash, buddy, you got anything for that leg?”

Kirin could barely hear his Ghost over the cannon before him charging up. He’d never dodge in time. “Fresh outta Light. Everything feels weird here..we messed up.”

“Been great, buddy.”

Kirin winced, the light in front of him growing along with the noise and he struggled to his feet, teeth gritted against the storm.

“The best I could have asked for.”

The cannon fired with a tremendous  _ crack _ , splitting the air and grinding rubble into dust as it tore across their little battlefield. The impact shook the whole battalion even from behind their own artillery, Kirin’s hiding spot obliterated in an explosion that felt like hell opening up in front of him. The Cabal cheered in their rumbling voices, a deep chortle that enveloped the scene in sickening mirth.

But when the dust cleared, Kirin’s eyes didn’t open to the dark.

They opened to a light brighter than any he had ever seen. Armor shining like the sun, brilliant and bold on the figure before him. 

Her back bristled with muscle below the metal plating. An Exo, he could tell that much. Wiping away the grime on his visor, he struggled to make his words come back to life.

The Titan’s shield shone true, held before them with both arms in a defensive stance firm as a mountain. Not a scratch on its surface, glimmering with Void Light as if untouched. It was like a miracle.

She was the most incredible thing he had ever seen.

The Cabal celebration died down as quickly as it had begun when they registered their target was unhurt. They roared again, brandishing their weapons and beginning to rain down fire once more as the cannon kicked up its low hum. Kirin stumbled back, away from the ricochets careening off his savior. She turned to him and pulled up her helmet for a grin he truly hadn’t expected. He knew who this was.

Easton-4 pulled the Hunter back to his feet with one hand, holding her shield up with the other as she ushered him out of the line of fire. She shouted joyfully over the gunshots to Kirin, sounding far happier than she should.

“Close call there, friend! You back off, we got this. Good work!”

Kirin finally got his words untangled and spewed them out as fast as he could, a jumble of concerns and conundrums that culminated in a simple statement; “T-the cannon’s gonna fire again! You gotta get aw- you gotta move!”

Easton grinned again and pulled her helmet back on, turning to face their foes. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that tank for too much longer. Our gun’s bigger.”

It was then that Kirin registered the “Ourwe” in her last sentence. He remembered now. The prodigal daughter of the City was a force unto herself, a one-woman army that burned through Fallen like so much kindling. But she almost never traveled alone. 

The Crownsplitter hit the tank that exact second, almost as if to dispel any lingering doubts he may have had. The thunder wasn’t far behind.

He watched as the tank crumpled and split, and the cannon, seconds from firing, was suddenly without a barrel, the front of the vehicle pinned into the ground by the Crownsplitter’s business end. The rear lifted with a earsplitting groan, and before his very eyes, the whole tank was crushed, flipped over like a tin can as it gave in to the steel and sinew driving its destruction. It exploded with such force the Cabal themselves had to stumble back, shielding their eyes and bodies from the shrapnel that tore at their ranks.

He was silhouetted against the flames, tearing the Crownsplitter from the dirt and looking back with those terrible eyes glowing beneath the chainmail that covered his face. Kirin found himself scared. He knew he was going to feel that way at first, they always did. But this was a friend.

His Ghost piped up once more. 

“Those Cabal are right and sorely screwed, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, Flash. I’d say they are.”

Bishop-22 raised his blade and strode over to clap his apprentice on the shoulder. The Demon of Twilight Gap was here.

“Good save, Easton. Get him out of here and we’ll start pushing further back. They’re already disoriented. It’ll take a few minutes for them to scramble a counterattack.”

The Sunbreaker’s eyes gleamed with flickering Light, and she pulled a war hammer as tall as Kirin’s full height from her back. “CQC our best option?”

“For an aggressive push like this, definitely. Well deduced, student. We’ll make a general out of you yet.”

Both Titans turned to Kirin at the same time, Bishop nodding to him briefly. “Kirin Ragnar, isn’t it? I’ve used your maps, fought beside you at Six Fronts. Get back and stay safe, the Vanguard can’t afford to lose you in the crossfire.”

Kirin could barely manage to mumble a reply before the towering Exo summoned the Arc explosively around his body and turned his gaze to the Cabal ship half-buried in the Dreadnaught’s hull before them. The doors had opened, and a fresh wave of warriors stormed forth, their battle cry rising to meet the flames before them. They charged past the wreckage of their tank without a second thought. The fight had just begun.

Easton turned to her friend, Solar Light beginning to glow around her hammer, creeping up the sides in a burning wave. “They’re pretty well set in. We can take the barricades down, move in without artillery and leave the fortifications mostly untouched. It’d function pretty well as a refitted base for Guardians coming in on the transmat.”

Bishop cracked his neck, circuits whirring and snapping into place, and pointed his sword towards the coming tide. “Sounds like a plan. We break them, Easton. No survivors.”

Both Titans exploded into battle, the sun and the thunder blending together as the Cabal met their onslaught, the shouts of war from each side colliding in a cacophony of noise and violence. Bishop split the line like a lightning bolt, and Easton blazed in his wake, a perfect whirlwind of fire, storm and steel. The Skyburners were fighting, and fighting hard, but they were losing already.

Kirin slid down against another rock, still nursing his leg, and shook his helmet off with a sigh of relief. His hair was slicked with sweat, and he found that his visor had melted just slightly. Time for a new helmet, he supposed.

Watching the combat, he couldn’t help but whistle in an awe that bordered on reverence. The Cabal were renowned as an immovable object, their defenses unbreakable and their phalanx of combat the most successful in the universe. Military geniuses. Unstoppable force alone couldn’t break them.

But Bishop and Easton? They were the unstoppable force  _ and  _ the immovable object, wrapped up in a duo that shattered anything in their way. 

The Dreadnaught felt as good as won, now.


End file.
